Alliance says obstacles hurting downtown Las Vegas growth

A lack of housing, basic infrastructure and population density coupled with a very visible homeless presence are the obstacles that entrepreneurs say are keeping downtown from realizing its full potential as a startup hub.

Larry G. Wampler Jr. left, and Chase Michael Hoover, who said they are homeless, eat meals that were dropped off by a motorist in front of a vacant apartment complex on North 7th Street at Stewart Avenue in downtown Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

The Ogden is shown from the intersection of North 6th Street and Ogden Avenue in downtown Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Fremont9 apartment complex under construction as seen from Carson Avenue near South 9th Street in downtown Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 6, 2018.(K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

A vacant lot on North 9th Street, north of Stewart Avenue in downtown Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Downtown Las Vegas has not become the startup hub it was envisioned to become in 2012 — yet.

A lack of housing, basic infrastructure and population density coupled with a very visible homeless presence are the obstacles that entrepreneurs say are keeping downtown from realizing its full potential as a startup hub.

The Downtown Vegas Alliance hopes to support the growth of downtown.

The alliance, a member-driven nonprofit, was founded in 2008 by a group of downtown business leaders, property owners and the city of Las Vegas.

For the first time, the alliance now has an executive director, Michael Vannozzi.

Vannozzi said he hopes his new position will allow the alliance to take a more active and vocal role in helping to shape downtown Las Vegas going forward.

“The first thing we are going to bring up is homelessness,” Vannozzi told the Review-Journal. “People want the city of Las Vegas and the broader region to take action on this because it has a direct impact on local business.”

In 2012, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh pumped $350 million into revitalizing downtown Las Vegas, which local entrepreneur Frank Gruber said “did a lot to expand the footprint downtown.”

Gruber moved to Las Vegas in 2013 as part of the wave of promise that followed Hseih’s investment.

“When we first came here, you wouldn’t go past the Ogden,” he said. “There was nothing pulling you past the block.”

Now, downtown Las Vegas has restaurants, Container Park and growth in the nearby Arts District, among other positive developments.

Still, there is work to be done.

To do

“We need to make people feel safe, we need a place for people to buy groceries, we need restaurants, a place for kids to play, and green space,” said Cathy Brooks, whose dog day care center and training facility, The Hydrant Club, was originally funded by the Downtown Project, the investment vehicle Hsieh created to revitalize the area.

Jen Consalvo, who with Gruber co-founded the recently acquired media company Tech.co, agreed.

“There could definitely be more beautification of downtown,” she said. “Even more plants and trees would help to make you feel like you’re not in a concrete jungle.”

And homelessness in the area needs to be addressed, she said.

“There are people on the streets all around you. It’s really great that there are facilities around here, but when you walk or drive down the street or to our office, there are long lines of people waiting to get food. It does scare people. There are people who are nervous about being downtown and being surrounded by that.”

Las Vegas is the smallest U.S. city among the 10 with the largest homeless population in shelters in 2017, according to a recent report.

Har Tej, co-founder of Las Vegas-based blockchain security company Hosho, said he really wanted to set up his office downtown, but he couldn’t find an office space he liked. His office is in Summerlin instead.

“I would love for downtown to grow, but there aren’t enough sophisticated office spaces, and any office space you do find is overpriced,” he said.

Investment

Consalvo said it’s just a matter of time before investment in the area picks up.

“I’ve been working to walk the walk and be down here. You can’t create density without trying to become part of that density,” she said.

Consalvo would ultimately like to see more people in downtown during the week and therefore more opportunity to bump into other entrepreneurs.

Housing is a big part of that, she said.

Brooks agreed.

“I’m not sure why the housing situation was not addressed first, but there are just not enough places for people to live,” she said.

A 232-apartment building at the corner of Fremont Street and South Ninth Street is slated to open in June.

“Fremont 9 should have been built three years ago,” Brooks said.

As density improves, developers will have more reason to act, Gruber said.

A macro look

Arnobio Morelix, a researcher and data scientist at Startup Genome, a San Francisco-based research and consulting firm, said downtown Las Vegas has to find its own way.

In his research of startup ecosystems in more than 50 cities and nearly 30 countries, he’s found some common ingredients that help startup hubs to mature.

“We found that in high performing ecosystems across the world, both founders and investors have connections globally with other founders and other ecosystems,” Morelix said. “We found that startups with global clients grew more than twice as much in revenue than startups without global clients despite where they were based.”

Hot startup hubs also have the population density that creates “local connectedness,” Morelix said, with founders and entrepreneurs in the community very well connected to each other.

“These ecosystems have a life cycle. First, they start activating. Then, they start growing, then they start globalizing, then expanding, and then they mature and reinvent themselves or they stay in a mature phase,” Morelix said.

To go from activation to globalization, a community needs big events, like one startup a year that gets bought for at least $100 million dollars, he said.

Las Vegas Review-Journal man-about-town columnist John Katsilometes gets his head shaved by former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman during St. Baldrick's Foundation shave-a-thon on the Brooklyn Bridge at New York-New York in Las Vegas Friday, March 8, 2019. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

The Blue Angels take flight over Las Vegas Strip

The Blue Angels’ U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron flew their signature Delta formation over a part of the Las Vegas Strip, McCarran International Airport and east Las Vegas and were scheduled to fly over Hoover Dam. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Vegas88s

Gross World Records

A group of about 20 children gathered around a TV at Sahara West Library on Feb. 27 for a history lesson on the most disgusting world records.

Lt. William Matchko of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police gives details about a car crashing into a Starbucks at Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road, near the Las Vegas Strip, on Friday, March 1, 2019. (Jessica Terrones/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Car crashed into PT’s Gold

A 60-year-old man who police believe was impaired drove into a PT’s Gold at Silverado Ranch and Decatur boulevards Thursday night, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. William Matchko said. The driver was hospitalized and is expected to survive. A man inside the bar was hit by debris but drove himself to the hospital, Matchko said. (Katelyn Newberg/ Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Kids from local Las Vegas elementary schools took part, Thursday, in a program at the Animal Foundation, where they read books to dogs. (Mat Luschek/Review-Journal)

Pioneer Trail highlights historic locations in West Las Vegas

The Pioneer Trail, a 16-site route of historically significant locations in Las Vegas, starts at the Springs Preserve and snakes east until it reaches above the brim of downtown. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutefsya

Vegas Warm Weather Hits Las Vegas Valley

Between Feb. 20-21, parts of the Las Vegas Valley were hit with 7.5" of snow. Less than a week later, it was sunny with temperatures in the 70s. (Mat Luschek/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Dr. S. Jay Hazan, a World War II veteran, talks about his arrest at the VA Hospital

Dr. S. Jay Hazan, a World War II Army veteran, was arrested in November after he caused a ruckus at the VA Hospital in North Las Vegas and stole his driver's car keys. He was arraigned on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, and the charges will be dropped after 60 days. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/ Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

Claytee White talks about Black History Month

An interview with Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Reflecting on the Moulin Rouge and a segregated Vegas

Former employees of the Moulin Rouge, the first integrated hotel-casino in Nevada, talk about what it was like in the brief six months the casino was open. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Las Vegas home prices

Home prices rose in every ZIP code in the Las Vegas Valley in 2018 for the second year in a row, according to SalesTraq. Prices grew fastest in older, more centrally located areas. But prices were highest in the suburbs. The top three ZIP codes for price growth were 89119 (29.8%), 89146 (25%) and 89030 (24.6%). The top three ZIP codes for median sales prices were 89138 ($464,500), 89135 ($420,500) and 89052 ($370,000).

With help from the city of Las Vegas, a Salvation Army shelter stays open during the day Thursday and Friday, offering a safe place for the homeless to find respite from freezing temperatures and snow. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Sloppy, Slushy Road Conditions Lead to Slow Traffic

Traffic slowed to a crawl on Jones are near Russell as conditions worsened Thursday. (Mat Luschek/Review-Journal)

Winter storm blankets west side of Las Vegas Valley

On Wednesday evening through early Thursday a winter storm dumped more than 7 1/2 inches of snow
on some parts of the Las Vegas Valley. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

MGM Resorts International signed a sports betting sponsorship agreement with the NBA in July It was the first professional sports league to have official ties with a legal sports betting house. The deal came just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law prohibiting sports betting in most states. In October, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the NHL. In November, MGM became the first gaming company to sign a sports betting partnership with the MLB. Financial terms of Tuesday’s deal and earlier partnerships have not been announced.

Faraday puts Las Vegas land on the market

Nearly two years after Faraday Future bailed on its North Las Vegas auto factory, the company has put its land up for sale. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced the recommendation for an underground people mover for the convention center. The system would have the potential to expand and connect Downtown and the resort corridor all the way to McCarran. (Michael Quine/ Las Vegas Review-Journal)

LVCVA/Boring Company Press Conference

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced a collaboration with Elon Musk's The Boring Company to develop and operate an autonomous people mover system for the Las Vegas Convention Center District.

The Clark County Planning Commission has approved a plan to build 20 homes on the site of Bonnie Springs Ranch. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Dig This opens new location In Las Vegas

Remember when you were a kid and played with construction toys in the sand box? Dig This Las Vegas has the same idea, except instead of toy bulldozers, you get to play with the real thing. (Mat Luschek/Review-Journal)

T.H.E. Salon, owned by Nicole Christie, celebrated their opening at the Veterans Village with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Southwest Airlines considering Las Vegas-Hawaii flights

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly says the airline is "very focused" on Hawaii. Hawaiians have a strong presence in Las Vegas.The city’s unofficial status is “Hawaii’s ninth island.” In 2018, at least 2,958 people from Hawaii moved to Nevada. Of those, 88.7 percent moved into Clark County, according to driver license surrender data. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 310,249 people came to Las Vegas from Hawaii in 2018.

Fewer Nevadans are celebrating Valentine's Day

Fewer Nevadans are celebrating Valentine's Day. About 1.2 million Nevadans are expected to celebrate this year, a 5 percent drop from 2018. A growing number of people consider Valentine’s Day over-commercialized. Others weren’t interested in the holiday or had nobody to celebrate with. But spending is expected to rise. Those who do celebrate are buying for more people. The average American is expected to spend about $162 this year for Valentine’s Day, a 57 percent jump from a decade prior. Katherine Cullen, director of industry and consumer insights at NRF

Rick Helfenbein talks about the impact of tariffs on the clothing industry

MAGIC fashion convention showcases men's clothing trends

The MAGIC fashion convention has come to Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to showcase some of the hottest clothing trends for men. (Nathan Asselin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Allegiant Air flight attendants learn how to handle a water landing

Field instructor Ashleigh Markel talks about training prospective flight attendants for Allegiant Air getting live training with a raft for a water landing at the Heritage Park Aquatic Complex in Henderson on Monday. (John Hornberg/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Smith & Wollensky CEO Michael Feighery speaks

Smith & Wollensky CEO Michael Feighery speaks about the new Smith & Wollensky restaurant coming to the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian in Las Vegas.

Smith & Wollensky CEO Michael Feighery speaks

Smith & Wollensky CEO Michael Feighery speaks about the new Smith & Wollensky restaurant coming to the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian in Las Vegas.